~ Kent ~
I glanced upwards when the door to my office opened. Of course I had known that the person who entered would be coming, but an unpleasant feeling settled in my stomach. I busied myself attempting to identify it as Ikkyu sat down next to me.
"Ah. You're here." Assessing my own tone revealed that I was not particularly excited to see him. How strange.
"Of course. We agreed I'd come over to hang out and solve your new math problem." He smiled as I slid him a sheet of paper. "Looks challenging… It's the best this way."
"… Your walk?" The feeling wouldn't go away; in fact, it continued to twist. Was I becoming ill?
"Walk? Oh, yes. Michi." His smile changed as it lit with emotion. He had been more prone to showing such sincere expressions as of late. "It went well. She's home safely."
"Very good." I turned to him when he started laughing. "What is it?"
"Michi said something funny. I thanked her for helping you open up a little, and she said that you had thanked her on my behalf for the same thing." His pencil stilled as he sighed. "We're good friends, aren't we?"
"I've seen no indication towards the contrary."
"Well, I've never said this, but… I shouldn't assume it's implied. Thanks for being there for me. I know I've been hard to handle in the past."
"No matter. It's only natural for humans to long for contact with others." I smiled slightly. "But you are welcome. And thank you for the same."
He nodded. "Hey, you made this one harder than usual."
"I suppose I am more enthusiastic about triumphing over you this time."
"Why for?" He laughed.
"I do not know. But my work speaks for itself, does it not?"
"It does. By the way, you talked to Michi a lot tonight. What about?"
"I fail to see how it is any business of yours." The feeling writhing in my stomach made the words turn a bit foul.
"Hey, if you don't want to tell me you can just say so." Ikkyu frowned at me, no doubt recognizing the outburst as uncharacteristic.
"Yes… I apologize. We spoke about many things. Emotion, honesty… And food came up again. Strange how it always seems to." I chuckled. "She actually has a lovely voice, doesn't she? I enjoyed myself in the few duets we had."
"It was cute how hard she tried. Everyone else just laughed off how bad they were. But you know, I think she has some issues with her self-confidence. I never would have thought it about her, but I think she doesn't see herself how others see her. Normally I wouldn't tell you this, but my point is that you shouldn't make any passing remarks about her appearance anymore, okay? Things like that can affect women more than you think."
"Noted…" The feeling continued to get heavier. "Michi. How… Do you see her, then?"
"Well, since I love her she just seems brighter than anyone else. I guess that's just what happens though. Once you're in love you care less and less about what flaws you would normally see."
"Ah." I realized a few flaws in her, actually. She was rash in dangerous situations, as evidenced by her handling of those she had deemed "fangirls". Whatever that meant. Her bluntness could be construed as rudeness. Not that I had much room to speak of it. Still… "This is the first I've heard of your affections for her." I'd had no idea, simply believing the whole time that Michi and Ikkyu had continued a close friendship after a long period of time. Yet here he was, tossing a word such as love around.
"That's right, I haven't told you. I've confessed to her a few times, but I've been rejected."
"I see. You're still persisting, I take it?" No wonder he had cut in to walk her home.
"As long as I feel this way, I plan to keep trying. If Michi starts to think I'm annoying, she'll definitely tell me." He laughed.
"Hunger?" I mused aloud, tilting my head. "No, that's not it." People could easily become angered if they were hungry, but I wasn't peckish at all and anger would have felt worse than what I was currently experiencing. How perplexing…
"What?"
"I wonder."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing at all." I tapped my fingers on my leg as he worked through the problem. It was good that he was busy, since it gave me a chance to allow my mind to wander. How strange it was to be putting my own psyche under the microscope…
"Done. That was a pretty good one. I'll come up with one that's even harder for you next time."
"I look forward to it. Also, I have more questions for you."
"Okay?" He sat back, looking at me curiously.
"When did you begin to love her?"
"During childhood, I think. Then with everything she did for me, I couldn't help it. All of those experiences amassed into a strong feeling."
"I see. And you don't intend to give up…"
"No. Why are you so curious? Still trying to understand things?"
"I suppose so." But that didn't explain this hateful feeling. "Ikkyu."
"I'm listening already. What?"
"What would your reaction be if I were to also pursue her?"
He turned away to look up at the ceiling. "I know you too well to assume you're joking, even though I wish you were. What? Do you like her now?"
"I would not know. Liking and loving… Such things are still lost on me. Besides, I was simply testing you."
"Is that it? Don't scare me like that. I'd fight you seriously for her, you know."
"Noted." I stood. "Please excuse me. I must make a call."
~ Michi ~
I sat up, frowning. Asking to talk with such a serious expression just made it feel so ominous… "What is it?"
"Well…" Musca hugged herself as if in defense. "Do you feel like I've been useful to you at all during this journey of ours?"
"Wait, what?" I shook my head. "That's a stupid question. No, wait, I mean…" I digressed when she got a stricken look. "I just have a hard time thinking that you would ever question yourself."
"But…" Her eyes were heavy with sadness and confliction. "Whenever you're really in trouble, there seems to be nothing I can do."
"Like when?"
"You've fallen down a staircase once. If Shin hadn't been there to catch you, I'd have been there just watching you get hurt… I tried to grab on but I wasn't strong enough. You just slipped through my fingers. Then, each and every time you were bothered by Ikki's group, I just had to watch you. Michi, you were on the ground being battered and I couldn't do a thing. I can't properly influence anything around you because I'm just a spirit. What good am I to you if I can't even protect you when it counts?"
I jumped up and grabbed her shoulders, shaking slightly. "Don't talk like that! You're indispensable. I'd be lost without you here to talk to and give me advice. You're the only one I've got who can fully understand what I'm living, since you know about the Spirit World."
"That's not true. You have Ukyo now." She bowed her head shamefully. "I'm useless. Even when I can touch you..."
"Don't you dare say that! Look…" I took a breath to stay calm. Hearing her berate herself made me angry. "I trust you more than anyone else, unconditionally. Even if you can't help me beat people up or catch me when I fall, you've still been here all along supporting me and guiding my heart and actions. I'd have failed by now without you. What was your assigned job when we were first starting out?"
"I was just supposed to help you."
"Haven't you gone above and beyond that? You're my best friend… Precious and dear to me. Please, just accept what you can do and be happy with that. We make the best team in the world as it is, don't we?"
She laughed softly. "Yes… I suppose we do." Her hands came up to hold my cheeks. "We both have our insecurities, don't we?"
"Yeah, well, who doesn't? It's how you work past them that shows what you're worth." I pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad you talked to me about your concerns. Thanks." Sharing my heart with those close to me only deepened our bonds. And Musca… She was the most important of all those ties.
"… Thank you too, Michi." Musca laughed. "I feel much better. But, moving on from that, you really do need to get some sleep. I can feel how tired you are."
"Yeah, but my mind won't shut off."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Toma, actually. I still don't have many memories of him yet, and based on what Ukyo told me I really need to watch my step… I'm not sure how to proceed from here on out." The thoughts were constantly bothering me.
"Well… The Toma that Ukyo has dealt with may be different from the one here. I agree that you should always be careful, but you should also make decisions based on your own experience."
"Good point. I'll just try talking to him normally." It wouldn't be fair to judge Toma on what different versions of him in different worlds had done anyways. If he crossed me here, I'd have a problem, but unless that happened I would just have to play it cool. I twitched when my phone buzzed in my pocket, and swiped to answer it when I saw that Kent was calling me. "Kent? Hey."
"Hello. How are you?"
"Fine. You?"
"I'm well." A lengthy silence followed his statement.
"So… What do you want?"
"Ah. Yes… The question I wanted to ask you. We were interrupted earlier, remember?"
"Oh, right. Go ahead then."
"I had wanted to ask…" He remained silent for a while. "What…"
I frowned. "You okay?" It wasn't like him to be so hesitant.
"I had wanted to ask what your relationship with Ikkyu was." He ignored my question.
"Eh? Why?"
Yet again, a silence. "Curiosity…?"
"You don't sound sure."
"Because I'm not. Will you answer me, please?"
"Well… We're friends."
"And that is all?"
"Yeah."
"I see. Thank you for your time."
"Huh? Sure, I guess." He was acting so weird… But then again, that seemed to be regular for him. Best not to question it.
"Goodnight, then."
"Yeah, goodnight." There was a click on the other end and it was silent for good this time.
"What happened?" Musca asked.
"He wanted to know what my relationship with Ikki was, so I told him the truth."
"I wonder why he wanted to know."
"Your guess is as good as mine." I shrugged. "Anyways… Let's just go to sleep and do our best tomorrow, okay?"
Musca smiled warmly. "Okay."
~ Kent ~
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Jealousy, satisfaction… What untoward feelings. I shouldn't have been feeling them at all. My closest friend loved Michi, I knew that very well, and yet I…
No. Such things were better left behind.